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July 18, 2007

How we avoid making trash

In case you’re new to the No Impact Man project, you should
know that we’ve broken down our lives into six areas and tried to figure out
how to live with as low an impact as possible in each area. The six areas are:
trash (as in we try to make none), carbon-producing transportation (as in we
don’t use it), inconspicuous consumption (as in we buy nothing new),
sustainable eating (as in our food all comes from within 250 miles or less),
reduced power use (as in we use almost none), and environmentally-friendly
water use (as in we’re still figuring that bit out).

That may all sound extreme—and it is—but the fact is that
we’ve found that it is tenable and possible and doesn’t make us feel deprived,
which is one way of saying there is hope for the possibility of living on the
planet without destroying it. But that’s not the topic of this post. This post,
a list in no particular order, is about how we avoiding making trash:

No soda in cans (which means we’re probably less likely to get cancer from aspartame).

No water in plastic bottles (which means we get to keep our endocrines undisrupted).

Giving our second-hand clothes away to Housing Works or other charities.

Offering products we no longer need on Freecycle instead of throwing them away.

Collecting used paper from other people's trash and using the other side.

Using old clothes for rags around the apartment instead of paper towels.

Talking with humor about what we’re doing because making a little less trash is a concrete first step everyone can take that leads to more and more environmental consciousness.

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Colin Beavan (that's me!) is now leading a conversation about finding a happy, helpful life at Colinbeavan.com. If you want to know how people are breaking out and and finding authentic, meaningful lives that help our world, check it out the blog here and sign up to join the conversation here.

Comments

How we avoid making trash

In case you’re new to the No Impact Man project, you should
know that we’ve broken down our lives into six areas and tried to figure out
how to live with as low an impact as possible in each area. The six areas are:
trash (as in we try to make none), carbon-producing transportation (as in we
don’t use it), inconspicuous consumption (as in we buy nothing new),
sustainable eating (as in our food all comes from within 250 miles or less),
reduced power use (as in we use almost none), and environmentally-friendly
water use (as in we’re still figuring that bit out).

That may all sound extreme—and it is—but the fact is that
we’ve found that it is tenable and possible and doesn’t make us feel deprived,
which is one way of saying there is hope for the possibility of living on the
planet without destroying it. But that’s not the topic of this post. This post,
a list in no particular order, is about how we avoiding making trash:

No soda in cans (which means we’re probably less likely to get cancer from aspartame).

No water in plastic bottles (which means we get to keep our endocrines undisrupted).